Health Care Disparities in Infant Mortality

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the race-specific mortality information on newborns and the persistent trend indicated by this information that black infants are twice as likely to die in their first month of life than white infants. The paper attempts to address this inconsistency in survival rates and identify potential changes in health care delivery systems that could help eliminate racial factors in infant mortality.

From the Paper:

"The U.S. government has identified six classes of racial and ethnic minority discrepancies in health care access, experience, and outcomes. In addition to infant mortality issues, the areas also include cancer screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV infection and AIDS, and immunizations. In 1998 the presidential goal was established committing governmental resources to eliminating these health care differences and improving the overall health of all Americans. This involved contributions by the Health and Human Services (HHS) department. The strategies for administering these goals were written up in the Healthy People 2010, a revision of Healthy People 2000, specifically addressing the greater degree of illness and death experienced by minorities. Through this agenda, targeted disparities were identified, reliable national data was accumulated, near-term goals outlined, and Department leadership and resources put forth to accomplishing improvements in the health care provided to affected groups (HHS, 2000)."

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